I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5084

To amend title 13, United States Code, to improve the accuracy of census

address lists, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 23, 1994

Mr. SAWYER (for himself, Mr. PETRI, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, and Mr.

MCCLOSKEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Post Office and Civil Service

A BILL

To amend title 13, United States Code, to improve the

accuracy of census address lists, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Census Address List

5 Improvement Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADDRESS INFORMATION REVIEWED BY LOCAL GOV7 ERNMENTS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 13, United

9 States Code, is amended by adding after section 15 the

10 following new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 16. Address information reviewed by States and

2 local governments

3 ‘‘(a) The Secretary, to assist efforts to ensure the ac4 curacy of censuses and surveys under this title, shall—

5 ‘‘(1) publish standards defining the content and

6 structure of address information which States and

7 local units of general purpose government may sub8 mit to the Secretary to be used in developing a na9 tional address list;

10 ‘‘(2)(A) develop and publish a timetable for the

11 Bureau to receive, review, and respond to submis12 sions of information under paragraph (1) before the

13 decennial census date; and

14 ‘‘(B) provide for a response by the Bureau with

15 respect to such submissions in which the Bureau

16 specifies its determinations regarding such informa17 tion and the reasons for such determinations; and

18 ‘‘(3) be subject to the review process developed

19 under section 3 of the Census Address List Improve20 ment Act of 1994 relating to responses pursuant to

21 paragraph (2).

22 ‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary—

23 ‘‘(A) may provide officials who are designated

24 as census liaisons by a local unit of general purpose

25 government with access to census address informa26 tion for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the
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1 address information of the Bureau for census and

2 survey purposes; and

3 ‘‘(B) together with such access, should provide

4 an explanation of duties and obligations under this

5 title.

6 ‘‘(2) Access under paragraph (1) shall be limited to

7 address information concerning addresses within the local

8 unit of general purpose government represented by the

9 census liaison or an adjacent local unit of general purpose

10 government.

11 ‘‘(3) The Bureau should respond to each rec12 ommendation made by a census liaison concerning the ac13 curacy of address information, including the determination

14 (and reasons therefor) of the Bureau regarding each such

15 recommendation.

16 ‘‘(4) For the purposes of paragraph (1), in a case

17 in which a local unit of general purpose government is

18 within another local unit of general purpose government

19 and is not independent of the enclosing unit, the census

20 liaison shall be designated by the local unit of general pur21 pose government which is within the enclosing local unit

22 of general purpose government.

23 ‘‘(5) A census liaison may not use information made

24 available under paragraph (1) for any purpose other than

25 the purpose specified in paragraph (1).
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1 ‘‘(c) For the purposes of this section—

2 ‘‘(1) the term ‘local unit of general purpose

3 government’ has the meaning given such term by

4 section 184(1) of this title; and

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘State’ includes the District of

6 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the

7 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,

8 American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and

9 any other territory or possession of the United

10 States.’’.

11 (b) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Section 9(a) of such title is

12 amended—

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘or local government census li14 aison,’’ after ‘‘thereof,’’; and

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘or 16’’ after ‘‘section 8’’.

16 (c) PENALTY.—Section 214 of such title is amended

17 by inserting ‘‘or whoever, being or having been a census

18 liaison within the meaning of section 16 of this title,’’ after

19 ‘‘title,’’ the second place it appears.

20 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

21 at the beginning of chapter 1 of such title is amended by

22 inserting after the item relating to section 15 the

23 following:

‘‘16. Address information reviewed by local governments.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF APPEALS PROCESS BY ADMINIS2 TRATOR OF THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION

3 AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS.

4 The Administrator of the Office of Information and

5 Regulatory Affairs, acting through the Chief Statistician

6 and in consultation with the Bureau of the Census, shall

7 develop an appeals process for those States and local units

8 of general purpose government which desire to appeal de9 terminations of the Bureau of the Census pursuant to sec10 tion 16(a)(2) or (b)(3) of title 13, United States Code.

11 Appeals under such process shall be resolved before the

12 decennial census date. The Chief Statistician shall publish

13 the proposed appeals process for a period of public com14 ment before finalizing such process.

15 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

16 TO SHARE ADDRESS LISTS.

17 Section 412 of title 39, United States Code, is

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking out ‘‘Except’’ and all that fol20 lows through ‘‘law,’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

21 ‘‘(a) Except as specifically provided by subsection

22 (b) or other law,’’; and

23 (2) by adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘(b) The Postal Service shall provide to the Secretary

25 of Commerce for use by the Bureau of the Census such

26 address information, address-related information, and
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1 point of postal delivery information, including postal deliv2 ery codes, as may be determined by the Secretary to be

3 appropriate for any census or survey being conducted by

4 the Bureau of the Census. The provision of such informa5 tion under this subsection shall be in accordance with such

6 mutually agreeable terms and conditions, including

7 reimbursability, as the Postal Service and the Secretary

8 of Commerce shall deem appropriate.’’.

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